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Is it curtains for the Kennedy Center? Since retaking office, Donald Trump has demanded that the capital city’s chief performing arts venue be remade in his image—and threatened to shutter it if he doesn’t get his way. This week the fight came to a head: A federal judge rejected Trump’s latest efforts to rename the building after himself and demanded advance notice if he tries to knock it down. Whether Trump complies will not only determine the Kennedy Center’s fate. It’s also shaping up to be an unlikely test of whether the rule of law can constrain a rogue president.

Remind me what the Kennedy Center is?

It’s the nation’s official cultural center. Created by an act of Congress and named in honor of President John F. Kennedy, the center’s white-marbled building has hosted plays, concerts, and award ceremonies since 1971.

What has Trump done to it?

He has moved quickly to put his stamp on the center. Citing “woke” programming, he replaced its bipartisan board of trustees with sycophants last year. The new board named Trump as chairman, and he helped plan performances and awardees. An acclaimed children’s musical about a shark who “wants to let out his inner fish” was out; Sylvester Stallone was in.

Surely people have fought back? 

Dozens of prominent artists nixed performances or severed ties with the center and criticized Trump’s attempts to align it with his politics. Things turned litigious after Trump’s handpicked board voted last year to rename the center after him, adding his name to the facade and changing its online logo to “The Trump-Kennedy Center.”

How has the legal fight gone for........

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